Earache in children – symptoms and treatment

Baby ears (specifically the Eustachian tube) is arranged in such a way that many external factors can provoke violations of this delicate and easily vulnerable organ. It is for this reason many parents know firsthand about similar problems that occur in 75% of all children under the age of 3 years.

Sudden, unexpected, often occurring at night or late evening the pain in the ears does not sleep, worried about and gives a lot of pain. Unbearable to watch all this, but what to do if your child has an Earache, and a doctor’s visit right away impossible? How to help the child to calm him? First you need to analyze the situation and to understand what reasons could cause this pain.

Causes of pain in the ears

To figure out why my ear hurts the child, parents and themselves. You need to remember that the child did in the last day (the reasons could be external factors) and he was sick for the last week (the pain might be the consequence of the disease). Identifying the cause will help in correct treatment and facilitate early recovery. The most frequent factors that cause ear pain in children are:

Causes of External ear pain:

swimming if the ear is exposed to water, this is especially the case if it was either cold, or dirty;

foreign body;

ear injury (bruise, burn, insect bite, burst eardrum, etc.);

education major cerumen in the ear canal;

walking in windy weather without a hat.

Internal causes of ear pain:

most common cause of ear pain in children is otitis media: it can be average is the inflammation that is characteristic of the middle ear, it most often occurs as a consequence of rhinopharyngitis (mucous pharynx and nose); or external is an inflammation of the external auditory canal, which can develop after the boil or sore in the ear canal;

otomycosis (fungus);

evstahiit — inflammation of the Eustachian tube;

viral infection;

finished the cure a cold or the beginning;

some disease so that the pain may radiate to the ear: this is the mumps, sinusitis, sore throat or problems with teeth;

Parents should try to find out if it hurts the ear of a child, which of these factors could provoke discomfort. If this poses some difficulties, you need to know what symptoms besides pain that accompany it, or other disease of the ear in children. They will help to more accurately diagnose pathology and accordingly to provide the baby needed medical care until the arrival of the doctor to alleviate his condition.

Symptoms of ear pain in a child

If the child complains that it hurts your ear, you need to watch carefully for its condition and inspect its hearing aid shell. Sometimes it helps to define more precisely, what happened to the ears of the kid really. So, what is the initial examination, which can be done by parents at home.

Inspect the ear of the baby. Perhaps it will be enough only to gently remove her from the foreign body, if it is shallow. You need to tilt the head of the child a sick ear down. We must not use any cotton swabs or tweezers as this may push the foreign body further.

Press the tragus is the cartilaginous projection in front of the outer auditory passage: if a child will react to your action calmly, most likely, the problem is in another body, and the pain in this place only gives.

Helper will become the thermometer. If your child has an Earache and a fever, have to be some kind of inflammatory process — otitis, evstahiit, etc. In this case, before the arrival of the doctor can only give a febrifuge in small doses corresponding to the age of the baby.

If the child has an Earache without fever, the cause of sickness could be any external factor or pressure problems. So do not be amiss to measure it, if the parents possess such skills.

Sometimes you can go purulent discharge, which indicated infection.

If the ear of a child primoglo, became a bluish color, it could be an insect bite or bruise elementary.

Itching indicates a fungal infection.

Very often, if the child has a very sore ear, he is cranky, crying, even screaming, refusing to eat, can’t sleep. Parents need in this case to be patient, to give the baby a pain reliever and to provide first aid before the arrival or the visit to the doctor.

The symptoms should be out in a matter of minutes as soon as possible to end the suffering of the child. Ear pain in its strength can be compared only with the tooth, so to delay the first and not necessary. Parents should know how they can help their own child at home if he had a sore ear.

The child has an Earache – what to do?

Only a doctor after examination can tell for sure than to treat the kid if he has an Earache. But there are situations when life-saving advice still need to stay alive. And it is important every parent know how to provide first aid if pain in the ear of the child, which very often occurs late in the evening and even at night. A small manual to help cope with panic and to appease the unbearable pain to see a doctor.

Call the local doctor or even a brigade “first aid”.

prior To their arrival give the child any pain medication considering his age. Especially if your child has an Earache at night and he can’t sleep, and the doctor cannot visit early in the morning.

Make an alcohol compress on the ear: the first layer — alcohol-soaked gauze, in which there is a cutout for the ear; the second, the cellophane with the same neck; and the third warming, is a warm scarf, which is wrapped up in the head.

If the child has a high temperature and a sore ear, you can give an antipyretic, but only if the situation is critical and in a different way to alleviate the condition of the baby does not work. You can try to moisten the cotton wool in warm boric acid to it and plug the ear that hurts. Let him to drink more plain water.

If you have such situation is not uncommon — you can use those ear drops that were previously prescribed to the child by a doctor (for example, is often prescribed “Otipaks”, “Otinum” or “Aneurin”).

That’s all you can do is to visit the doctor. Of course, it is very important for parents in this situation is to calm yourselves, to be patient and not to panic, even if there is a sleepless night with a sick child. Do not raise it voice, take in his arms, I try to run it a little whim. Do everything that he could at least for a while forget about their pain. After visiting the doctor it will be much easier because he will be prescribed treatment.

Treatment for ear pain in child

At the hospital the baby will be examined, will reveal the real cause of ear pain and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Those parents, whose children often have earaches know that along with the drug therapy experts often recommend the use and folk remedies. With proper use of them can speed up the recovery of the child and to avoid further complications.

Medical treatment of ear pain in a child

1. Antibiotics (penicillin injections) for 7-10 days prescribed for infections, inflammation. In case of refusal of such therapy otitis media can result from meningitis, mastoiditis and brain abscess.

2. Ear drops:

“Otipaks” — prescribed for otitis media as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory medication contains lidocaine, which often causes children allergic reactions

“Otofa drug” — used for the treatment of acute diseases of the middle ear, contains a powerful antibiotic rifampicin;

Dilute the honey with water in equal proportions, bring to a boil, put in a thin but wide slice beets, boil half an hour. Cool, wrap in gauze and apply to the ear that hurts. Such a compress of boiled in honey beet helps to speed up recovery from virtually every disease.

Fresh lemon balm (twig) pour hot water (1 Cup), cover, leave until then, until the infusion begins to feel warm. Drain. Gently wash the sore ear twice a day. Infusion of Melissa is also possible to give the child orally, as a tea, but only if he’s not allergic to wheat.

Mix the honey and alcohol tincture of propolis in equal proportions. Dripping in the form of heat in 1 drop three times a day sore ear.

With home remedies need to be extremely careful not to apply them on the advice of grandparents-neighbors: only on doctor’s prescription. Otherwise you can provoke the development of complications such as deafness, pathologies of the tympanic membrane, the hearing-impaired. To avoid them, much easier to remember the preventive measures and not to bring the matter to unbearable pain.

Take care of baby ears: make sure that they do not fall, hold the head of your baby is always warm, strengthen his immune system that no infections were struck by a small organism. The only way to get into the lucky 25% of kids who don’t know what the pain in the ears.